Neighbor Discovery for IP Version 6 (IPv6)
RFC 2461
| Document | Type |
RFC - Draft Standard
(December 1998; No errata)
Obsoleted by RFC 4861
Updated by RFC 4311
Obsoletes RFC 1970
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Last updated | 2013-03-02 | ||
| Stream | IETF | ||
| Formats | plain text pdf html bibtex | ||
| Stream | WG state | (None) | |
| Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
| IESG | IESG state | RFC 2461 (Draft Standard) | |
| Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
| Telechat date | |||
| Responsible AD | (None) | ||
| Send notices to | (None) | ||
Network Working Group T. Narten
Request for Comments: 2461 IBM
Obsoletes: 1970 E. Nordmark
Category: Standards Track Sun Microsystems
W. Simpson
Daydreamer
December 1998
Neighbor Discovery for IP Version 6 (IPv6)
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document specifies the Neighbor Discovery protocol for IP
Version 6. IPv6 nodes on the same link use Neighbor Discovery to
discover each other's presence, to determine each other's link-layer
addresses, to find routers and to maintain reachability information
about the paths to active neighbors.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION............................................. 3
2. TERMINOLOGY.............................................. 4
2.1. General............................................. 4
2.2. Link Types.......................................... 7
2.3. Addresses........................................... 8
2.4. Requirements........................................ 9
3. PROTOCOL OVERVIEW........................................ 9
3.1. Comparison with IPv4................................ 13
3.2. Supported Link Types................................ 15
4. MESSAGE FORMATS.......................................... 17
4.1. Router Solicitation Message Format.................. 17
4.2. Router Advertisement Message Format................. 18
4.3. Neighbor Solicitation Message Format................ 21
4.4. Neighbor Advertisement Message Format............... 23
4.5. Redirect Message Format............................. 26
Narten, et. al. Standards Track [Page 1]
RFC 2461 Neighbor Discovery for IPv6 December 1998
4.6. Option Formats...................................... 28
4.6.1. Source/Target Link-layer Address............... 28
4.6.2. Prefix Information............................. 29
4.6.3. Redirected Header.............................. 31
4.6.4. MTU............................................ 32
5. CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF A HOST............................... 33
5.1. Conceptual Data Structures.......................... 33
5.2. Conceptual Sending Algorithm........................ 35
5.3. Garbage Collection and Timeout Requirements......... 37
6. ROUTER AND PREFIX DISCOVERY.............................. 37
6.1. Message Validation.................................. 38
6.1.1. Validation of Router Solicitation Messages..... 38
6.1.2. Validation of Router Advertisement Messages.... 39
6.2. Router Specification................................ 40
6.2.1. Router Configuration Variables................. 40
6.2.2. Becoming An Advertising Interface.............. 44
6.2.3. Router Advertisement Message Content........... 44
6.2.4. Sending Unsolicited Router Advertisements...... 46
6.2.5. Ceasing To Be An Advertising Interface......... 46
6.2.6. Processing Router Solicitations................ 47
6.2.7. Router Advertisement Consistency............... 48
6.2.8. Link-local Address Change...................... 49
6.3. Host Specification.................................. 50
6.3.1. Host Configuration Variables................... 50
6.3.2. Host Variables................................. 50
6.3.3. Interface Initialization....................... 51
6.3.4. Processing Received Router Advertisements...... 51
6.3.5. Timing out Prefixes and Default Routers........ 54
6.3.6. Default Router Selection....................... 54
6.3.7. Sending Router Solicitations................... 55
7. ADDRESS RESOLUTION AND NEIGHBOR UNREACHABILITY DETECTION. 56
7.1. Message Validation.................................. 57
7.1.1. Validation of Neighbor Solicitations........... 57
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